The One That Got Away
by Torahamutaro-chan
Summary: Naboo is haunted by a night in his life long forgotten. Naboo/OC


Alright, this is either going to be a one shot, or the prologue to a new story. I'm posting it to see what kind of a response I get.

A few things before we start. This, if continued, will be a romance fic between Naboo and an original character of my creation. I honestly normally hate OCs, but I suppose when it's your own, you can't help but want to make them. Secondly, the cat's name is pronounced neck-cross; put the two together. It's like necros, but cross. That's about it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and this plot.

Last night, I dreamed this.

XxXxX

The night was dark in the shadow of a tall building, blocking out the light of the moon. Shouts and laughter could be heard from a pub, high up on the top floor of the otherwise unoccupied structure. From a balcony, a large basket was visible, and in the basket lay the target.

A small boy around the age of twelve crouched, vigilantly watching the window of the pub from the corner of a neighboring building. It had been hours since the men had gone in and he knew now that there would be no other choice; he would have to sneak in past them. As he prepared to make his first move, a black cat, his familiar, came up beside him.

"We must be careful," it whispered.

The boy nodded, his bobbed hair bouncing as he did. He stayed low to the ground and moved as quickly as he could to the first level entrance. The door was locked, but that wasn't a problem as he quickly muttered a spell. A loud click sounded his success, and they crept inside. The inside of the building was dark and full of boxes. They tread carefully over broken glass and pieces of metal, careful not to make any noise in case one of the men were nearby.

The cat guided the boy through the darkness to a staircase leading upwards. They dashed up the steps soundlessly, occasionally stopping to listen for signs of life. After many flights of stairs, they came to the floor they needed. There was a guard sleeping in front of the door. The boy removed one of the many pouches from his robes and sprinkled the contents over the face of the man. He stayed as he was, and, as the boy dragged him to the side, made no signs of waking.

The cat stuck his ear to the door. After what seemed like a century of waiting, the animal finally nodded and he opened the door slowly and crept inside. The room was dimly lit and seemed to glow orange. Smoke filled the small space, making it easy for them to creep near the ground unnoticed. The happy, drunk men argued and told jokes, unaware of the intrusion.

The pair made it to the sliding balcony doors and waited for the few men smoking in the crisp night air to finish and go back inside before sneaking through the closing door. When they reached the shadows, both stood and relaxed their muscles, finally breathing in slight relief for making it this far unscathed.

After a short rest, the boy turned towards his target. Attached to the side of the wall was a steel pole that went past the balcony bars and to which were attached ropes. Dangling precariously from these ropes was a large basket big enough to fit a small tiger or a very large dog. Instead of these beasts, though, there lay a small girl.

The girl looked to be about the age of the boy, perhaps younger if her size was anything to go by. Her skin was pale and her longish hair and large eyes were deep brown in color. She was laying there in a daze, looking very bored, as if she were tired of waiting for her fate. As the boy leaned over the bars to look at her, her eyes caught his.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Naboo," the boy replied. "I'm here to rescue you."

At this her brow furrowed. "_You_, rescue _me_? You're joking."

"No, I'm not," he replied defensively. "Now come on. We haven't got much time." He held his hand out for her to take.

"I'm not moving. Are you crazy?" she asked, eyes widened slightly in fear.

"Why not?"

"Because, every time I move, this basket moves with me." She demonstrated by sitting up for a moment, but quickly laid back down as the basket swayed.

Naboo frowned. "Alright… Well how about I come over there then? I can carry you out. I'm a strong jumper."

The girl frowned and bit her lip in thought. A minute later, she nodded shakily. "O-okay..." She obviously thought it was a bad idea.

Quickly, and without fault, Naboo leaped from the balcony, into the basket. It swayed and tried to stabilize and the girl shrieked, rushing to grab his arm and clinging. Naboo hugged her reassuringly and prepared to lift her when he heard a hiss from behind and a loud, "Hey!"

He turned in time to see hands coming at him. A large, beefy man clutched his upper left arm tight, pulling to try and get him out. He clenched his teeth in pain and struggled hard against the hold. The girl was shaking now and he held her closer in a silent "it'll be alright."

They all heard a yowl before the cat pounced on his Master's attacker, clawing and biting with all his might in an effort to help. Though he was distracted, the man did not relinquish his grip on Naboo's arm. The poor boy was thusly yanked about as the man swatted at the fuzzy familiar.

The basket swayed dangerously and the ropes were slipping. Too much strain was being placed on the basket and soon both he and the girl would fall to their deaths. Naboo, deciding he had come too far just to end up dying, struggled even harder against the man's grip.

Becoming fed up, the man gave a hard flick to the arm being attacked, sending the cat flying hard into the wall with a pained yowl.

"Nekros!" Naboo cried, and tried with all his small might to break free and rush to his friend.

The now irate man growled at the boy and tugged his arm back to, hopefully, dislodge him from the basket. Noticing immediately what would happen, Naboo released the girl. Within moments he was forcibly removed from the basket and heading quickly towards the ground below. As he looked up, he saw the terrified brown eyes of the girl staring down at him before she was pulled out of sight.

"**KARIA!!!"**

XxXxX

Naboo shot up, panting. He stared around his room blearily, taking in his surroundings. As his heart rate slowed, he reached up to touch his face. Tears covered his cheeks, dripping down onto the sheets and his night robes. He stared down at his wet fingers in shock and thought back to the dream, the dream of his mission.

The memory of the girl he failed to save.

XxXxX

That's it. Tell me what you think of it. I personally wish to continue this, but I'll leave the decision up to you guys.


End file.
